Dubious Character
I was contemplating whether I should be writing this, then a friend texted me and showed me a posting by @therealwolf. The article available through this link.
I was one of those guys that stood by him and tried to help him out when he was in Malaysia. It started off with a story of how he was robbed in Thailand and how he is trying to stay sober from his drug addiction. He was introduced to me by @littlenewthings.
I did my part as a friend and tried to help him out by raising some funds, albeit not much but we try to help
Fund Raising for Ben Schwartz
The reason I write this is not to name and shame anyone but I think the truth of this man ought to be revealed because there are still many people out there that maybe scammed by him. I will try to keep this factual and avoid my own judgment from taking the better of me.
The Neverending Spell of Bad Luck
I believe that when a man is down and in the ruts, you don't kick him, instead you extend your hand to help him. With that thought, many of us in this discord group called #unmentionables tried our best to stand by @fatpandadesign (that was what he was previously known).
I can't believe that this man has worse luck than me. If swims he will probably drown, if he walks in the backalley he will be robbed, if he bets on a horse the horse would fall sick, if he takes medicine he would likely swallow the wrong pill and choke and the list is endless.
Unreasonable Demands
We raised some money for him and I personally topped up the amount and transferred to him which was purportedly to help him out financially after he burnt a huge hole in his pocket from the hospitalisation. I was not spared the heckling and cusses by him when I enquired further about him which I believe was his way of avoiding to answer me. In the fit of rage, he told me to return the money to the donors.
I find it very disconcerting because this man has not been consistent with his version of story and he is unable to follow through with his stories. After merely a few days of 'severing ties' with me, suddenly he messaged me and asked me when I am able to transfer the collection that we managed to raise for him.
I transferred the money to him on 2 different occassions and I believe that his wallet or mine would still show the transaction. He had used me to help him pay for his accommodation in Malaysia on the pretext that he is not able to convert his cryptos to cash and I assisted. He paid me but it is always lesser than the amount that I was supposed to hand to the landlord. I thought, well, if that is within my abililty, I will assist.
He definitely know that the amount that he gave me is insufficient given his ability to spin elaborate stories of series of unfortunate events and keeping up with the stories that he concocted.
There are occassions that I have to make immediate change of cryptos to fiat and hand to him personally because he said he has no money to eat. I took leave from work and pass him the dough. I gave him the benefit of doubt.
Stories Became more Outrageous
This is one individual that lends his credibility on the name of others. He would drop names of the numerous whales that has lend their support to his ultra dubious pandacoin and if I have to list down the stories it would sound something like this:
- Pandacoin is first of its kind, revolutionary and will change the crypto market (when asked, he said it has to be kept secret)
- Many whales have invested in the pandacoin through its ICO because they knew and saw the utiity and value in it
- When asked about the whitepaper, he couldn't produce any
- When asked about who his developers are, he is unable to name them
To the above, I asked
'I am surprised why people would part with their money if they have no knowledge about what your coin is, in the absence of a whitepaper and a credible platform because the names you dropped are not people who are new to the crypto world'
At that time, there were talks about how he gambled and he thought it would be good to do some explanation to me and he came up with this story about how he allow a young boy who found a hack of making money through steem dice. I told him that I found that pretty unbelievable because the system of 'provably fair' would determine how the system works and there is no hack and there could be a method of wagering which still falls down on probabilities. So, if someone is reading this artice, I believe the evidence of betting is available in his wallet. The amount that was wagered is quite huge and it even went up to the sum of 90 steem and so on and most of the returns, shows that he lost and there is no systematic execution. This man is drunk on gambling and it is available for everyone to see.
He left Malaysia and thereafter he could not be contacted. During that time, money in the group account @unmentionables were used by him. He of has a full version of how epilepsy and seizures took the better of him and how he ran into another spate of bad luck in Portugal (because he was supposed to attend the Steemfest). That became quite questionable and I started to question his excuses because some were simply illogical.
I raise the issue in the discord group and a few took it to question my conduct. But really there is nothing to be gained.
Ben, if you are reading this, this isn't meant to shame you but I think everyone in this platform should be alerted. You played on the sympathy of many and these people who stood by you did not even caution themselves that they are taken for a ride. You seem like a pretty resourceful guy because of the stories that you can imagine and create and in order to back those stories, you have some other corroborative evidence too.
I hope that you see there are people who show genuine concern for your wellbeing. I wish you all the best in your endeavour.
Here are some people whom I think may want to know my side of the story:
@littlenewthings
@bitrocker2020
@neoxian
@hopehuggs
@chloephuan
Hi @perennial , I am sorry to hear that you have been persuaded to help him more than you could.
He did mention that you were helping him out on his AirBnB but I never knew that he did not pay the full amount as per the current crypto exchange.
Most of the time when he needed help from my side he did pay me in crypto and most of the time it was right on the spot of the current exchange rate, where I screen captured him and he paid the right amount; except the few times Chloe and I decided to bless him a proper meal whenever we meet up.
I am not sure how surreal you would have felt but @hopehuggs and myself did manage to call the hospital in Portugal and get him on the phone; so I believe that in all the twisted information there were some truth in it.
I just hoped that he would have left his old ways and stop all the nonsense. Ever since Thanksgiving last year both Chloe and I also did not receive any reply from him even though we messaged him a few times.
It is a very saddening incident for him to keep falling deeper into the rabbit hole. I truly hope he will wake up soon.
Thanks for sharing with us your side of the story.
At least we know to discern better in wisdom; and know that we have done our best as a friend to help another in need.
upvoted
Dear @littlenewthings, I always believe that when you did what you did, you did it in absolute good faith and that was why you have no reservations about helping him. I am pretty sure that he is reading this and if there is anything that I say which is untrue, perhaps he can refute it.
I believe that in order for someone to find leverage in their action, there has to be some slight truth in what he does. For instance, the hospitalisation, the drug addiction and those things he knows he can use to bolster his credibility. But of course, it does not go to the extent that he has claimed. I am pretty sure he was in Portugal and I am pretty sure he was probably in it but not for the duration that he claimed.
I really don't mind helping but I absolutely hated it when I am taken for a ride.
Hi @perennial
I know I was blinded by something when it came to Ben. Since I first saw his posts on Steemit, I watched his journey, as I thought he could be a rising star.
I think the seizures and fits were real, as @littlenewthings said, we spoke to him in hospital and for the brief time he was in UK, I had the ambulance paramedic call me up to tell me he had a seizure then too.
I see the good in people and it's in him, but its been suffocated by whatever addictions he is afflicted with, whether that be heroin, gambling or scamming people.
I hope he learns that the actions we took to help him came from a place of genuine compassion and that he realises that if he keeps throwing that back in peoples faces and continues scamming, karma will have it that his streak of bad luck is self made and will continue.
I believe there is some truth to whatever he said to lend credibility to his excuses. That is often how it works. However there are also unsubstantiated facts such as loss of his recovery key, the utility of whatever he claimed his pandacoin is worth and the people that worked on his pandacoin, none of this has been explained.
I think @littlenewthings and myself did ask our friends who attended the steemfest to find him and pass him some cash to assist him. But again what we hear was different versions of stories going around and his inability to be contacted was quite mind boggling. His sudden departure from the Air BnB accommodation in Malaysia was also a bit surprising as it is the first time I see someone not minding to pay above market price for his accommodation and claims he has the ability to pay. I am sure there is a different version from the landlord. I am sceptical because I can find the smooth transition between his stories.